1 »Listen to my words Job. Pay attention to everything I say.
2 »I am about to open my mouth. My words are on the tip of my tongue.
3 »My words come from an upright heart! My lips sincerely speak what I know.
4 »The Spirit of God has made me. The Breath of the Almighty gives me life.
5 »Answer me then, if you can, and prepare yourself to confront me.
6 »I am just like you before God. I too have been taken from clay!
7 »No fear of me should alarm you, nor should my hand be heavy upon you.
8 »You have said in my hearing, I heard the very words:
9 »I am pure and without sin! I am clean and free from guilt.
10 »Yet God has found fault with me. He considers me his enemy!
11 »He fastens my feet in shackles and he keeps close watch on all my paths.
12 »But I tell you, Job, in this you are not right, for God is greater than man.
13 »Why do you complain to him that he answers none of mans words?
14 »God does speak, now one-way and then another, though man may not perceive it.
15 »In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds,
16 he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings,
17 that turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride.
18 »It is to preserve him from the pit and keep his life from perishing by the sword.
19 »On the other hand a man may be chastened on a bed of pain with constant distress in his bones.
20 »His very being finds food repulsive and he loathes the choicest meal.
21 »His flesh wastes away to nothing, and his bones, once hidden, now stick out.
22 »He draws near to the pit and to the messengers of death.
23 »Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him,
24 to be gracious to him and say: Spare him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom for him!
25 »His flesh is renewed like a childs. It is restored as in the days of his youth.
26 »He prays to God and finds favor with him. He sees Gods face and shouts for joy! God restores him to his righteous state.
27 »He comes to men and says: I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved.
28 »He redeemed me from going down to the pit, and I will live to enjoy the light.
29 »God does all these things to a man twice, even three times.
30 »He turns him back from the pit that the light of life may shine on him.
31 »Pay attention, Job, and listen to me! Be silent, and I will speak.
32 »If you have anything to say answer me. Speak up, for I want you to be cleared.
33 »But if not, then listen to me. Be silent, and I will teach you wisdom.